[Jared2500]

I wanted to share this noise control tip with anyone who is trying to use their dongle as a DAC to feed into a separate amplifier:

If you are struggling with noise when converting the dongle's 3.5mm output to an input that your amplifier will accept, I am having great results with the following chain:

PC > Dongle > 3.5mm TRS to dual 6.35mm TS cable > Behringer HD400 Hum Destroyer > 2x 6.35mm to XLR cables (2 separate cables) > Amplifier XLR Inputs

The hum destroyer completely eliminated any electrical noise resulting from converting an unbalanced output to a balanced XLR input. If anyone has any superior noise management techniques, I'd definitely be interested in trying them!

 

[dunring]

For a desktop, I got the Febsmart 2 port USB PCIE card and put it in the bottom slot away from the video card. It got the noise floor silent as well. I might try one since using a USB dongle has always been a problem with the 3.5mm to RCA introducing hiss.
I'm using a Topping E50 now with an A30Pro and couldn't be happier. Still would be cool to try one for stuff like the Soundblaster X1, G6, or even the Apple adapter for a DAC sometimes.

 

[Jared2500]

For a desktop, I got the Febsmart 2 port USB PCIE card and put it in the bottom slot away from the video card. It got the noise floor silent as well. I might try one since using a USB dongle has always been a problem with the 3.5mm to RCA introducing hiss.
I'm using a Topping E50 now with an A30Pro and couldn't be happier. Still would be cool to try one for stuff like the Soundblaster X1, G6, or even the Apple adapter for a DAC sometimes.

I'm currently using the Apple Dongle along with my iFi Pro iCAN Signature. After recently parting ways with my Pontus II DAC, I was expecting the dongle to feel like a bottleneck to the iCAN, but they pair together surprisingly well. The tubes in the iCAN are sounding especially great with this dongle.